Current Location: Home> Latest Articles> PHP QR Code Generation Guide: The Best Way to Quickly Implement QR Code Functionality

PHP QR Code Generation Guide: The Best Way to Quickly Implement QR Code Functionality

gitbox 2025-06-07

Introduction

With the widespread adoption of mobile and scan payments, QR codes have become an essential part of daily life. Integrating QR code generation into websites and applications is increasingly necessary. PHP offers multiple open-source libraries that make generating QR codes straightforward. This article explains how to quickly generate QR codes using the PHP QR Code library.

Installation

Before implementing QR code functionality, you need to install the PHP QR Code library. It can be freely downloaded from GitHub or installed via Composer. If you have Composer installed, run the following command:

<span class="fun">composer require t0k4rt/phpqrcode</span>

If not using Composer, you can download the library directly from GitHub, extract it, and include the phpqrcode.php file in your project to use.

Generating QR Codes

Once installed, you can start generating QR codes. The main steps are:

  • Include the phpqrcode.php file
  • Set the QR code parameters
  • Call the QRcode::png() function to generate the QR code

1. Include the phpqrcode.php file

Make sure to include the phpqrcode.php file in your PHP code, usually with require_once:

<span class="fun">require_once 'phpqrcode.php';</span>

2. Set QR code parameters

The QRcode::png() function accepts the following parameters:

  • $text: The content of the QR code, required.
  • $outfile: The output file path; if omitted, the QR code is displayed directly in the browser.
  • $level: Error correction level; default is L. Options are L, M, Q, H.
  • $size: Size of the QR code, an integer from 1 to 10.
  • $margin: Margin around the QR code, an integer from 0 to 10.

Example generating QR code to a file:

$text = 'https://www.baidu.com/';
$file = 'qrcode.png';  // Filename and path
$level = 'L';          // Error correction level: L, M, Q, H
$size = 10;            // QR code size: 1-10
$margin = 1;           // Margin: 1-10
<p>QRcode::png($text, $file, $level, $size, $margin);<br>

Example outputting QR code directly to browser:

$text = 'https://www.baidu.com/';
$level = 'L';
$size = 4;
$margin = 2;
<p>QRcode::png($text, false, $level, $size, $margin);<br>

Example Code

Complete PHP example to generate a QR code:

require_once 'phpqrcode.php';
$text = 'https://www.baidu.com/';
$file = 'qrcode.png';  // Filename and path
$level = 'L';          // Error correction level: L, M, Q, H
$size = 10;            // QR code size: 1-10
$margin = 1;           // Margin: 1-10
<p>QRcode::png($text, $file, $level, $size, $margin);<br>

Summary

This article has shown how to use the PHP QR Code library to generate QR codes. The library is powerful and easy to use, supporting multiple styles such as QR codes with logos, background images, and Chinese characters. We hope this tutorial helps you successfully integrate QR code generation into your PHP projects.

Related